Quadruped Robot Disguises Itself As A Ball
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/
When the Skynet baseball bot swarms attack, we’ll be throwing [Carl Bugeja] some dirty looks for getting them started. He’s been working on 4B, a little quadruped robot that can transform itself into a sphere almost perfectly.
Before [Carl] was distracted by the wonders of PCB actuators more than a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/
When the Skynet baseball bot swarms attack, we’ll be throwing [Carl Bugeja] some dirty looks for getting them started. He’s been working on 4B, a little quadruped robot that can transform itself into a sphere almost perfectly.
Before [Carl] was distracted by the wonders of PCB actuators more than a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/quadruped-robot-disguises-itself-as-a-ball/)
See You On the Dark Side of the Moon: China’s Lunar Radio Observatory
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/
For nearly as long as there has been radio, there have been antennas trained on the sky, looking at the universe in a different light than traditional astronomy. Radio astronomers have used their sensitive equipment to study the Sun, the planets, distant galaxies, and strange objects from the very edge …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/
For nearly as long as there has been radio, there have been antennas trained on the sky, looking at the universe in a different light than traditional astronomy. Radio astronomers have used their sensitive equipment to study the Sun, the planets, distant galaxies, and strange objects from the very edge …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/see-you-on-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-chinas-lunar-radio-observatory/)
Slack, Now On Windows 3.1
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/
Slack is either an online collaboration tool, or a religion, depending on who you talk to. Naturally, it’s accessible across all manner of modern platforms, from Windows and MacOS to smartphones. However, some prefer to go further back. At a recent company hackathon, [Yeo Kheng Meng] decided to create a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/
Slack is either an online collaboration tool, or a religion, depending on who you talk to. Naturally, it’s accessible across all manner of modern platforms, from Windows and MacOS to smartphones. However, some prefer to go further back. At a recent company hackathon, [Yeo Kheng Meng] decided to create a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/slack-now-on-windows-3-1/)
Linux Fu: WSL Tricks Blur the Windows/Linux Line
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/
We have to admit, we have an odd fascination with WSL — the Windows subsystem for Linux. On the one hand, it gives us more options on Windows 10 for running the software we love. On the other hand, we wonder why we aren’t just running Linux. Sometimes it is …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/
We have to admit, we have an odd fascination with WSL — the Windows subsystem for Linux. On the one hand, it gives us more options on Windows 10 for running the software we love. On the other hand, we wonder why we aren’t just running Linux. Sometimes it is …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/linux-fu-wsl-tricks-blur-the-windows-linux-line/)
Supercon Talk: Emily Velasco Wants You to Work Weird
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/
Emily Velasco seems to absolutely delight in the weird, and we think that is wonderful. Weird brings us together. If you can be weird with someone else, you’ll have a special bond for life. In her inspiring 2019 Supercon talk (embedded below), Emily explains why she is drawn to weird …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/
Emily Velasco seems to absolutely delight in the weird, and we think that is wonderful. Weird brings us together. If you can be weird with someone else, you’ll have a special bond for life. In her inspiring 2019 Supercon talk (embedded below), Emily explains why she is drawn to weird …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/supercon-talk-emily-velasco-wants-you-to-work-weird/)
Motorizing a Plasma Cutter on the Cheap
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/
A hand-held plasma cutter is an excellent tool to have if you are working with sheet metal, but it’s not particularly well suited to making long or repetitive cuts. Which is why [workshop from scratch] worked his usual scrapheap magic and built his own motorized track for making perfectly straight …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/
A hand-held plasma cutter is an excellent tool to have if you are working with sheet metal, but it’s not particularly well suited to making long or repetitive cuts. Which is why [workshop from scratch] worked his usual scrapheap magic and built his own motorized track for making perfectly straight …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/motorizing-a-plasma-cutter-on-the-cheap/)
Replacing A Non-Replacable Laptop Keyboard
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/
Spilling a drink on a laptop is a terrifying experience. If you’re lucky you’ll ruin just a keyboard, and if not, your entire machine could go up in smoke. Assuming you’ve just suffered the latter, you can still be out of luck, as many laptops come with fancy integrated keyboards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/
Spilling a drink on a laptop is a terrifying experience. If you’re lucky you’ll ruin just a keyboard, and if not, your entire machine could go up in smoke. Assuming you’ve just suffered the latter, you can still be out of luck, as many laptops come with fancy integrated keyboards …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/replacing-a-non-replacable-laptop-keyboard/)
Robot Insect Survives Swatting
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/
There is an old saying, that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye;, but somewhat slower than the fly.” However, with a little practice you can swat a fly, although it sometimes doesn’t seem to faze the fly. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced they have used nanotech …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/
There is an old saying, that ‘the hand is quicker than the eye;, but somewhat slower than the fly.” However, with a little practice you can swat a fly, although it sometimes doesn’t seem to faze the fly. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has announced they have used nanotech …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/robot-insect-survives-swatting/)
Ted The Talking Toaster
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/
The team behind [8 Bits and a Byte] have built a talking toaster. More accurately, they retrofitted their existing toaster with some hardware components to make it appear to talk and get angry at its users. While the actual toaster functionality isn’t necessary for the build, it certainly allows the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/
The team behind [8 Bits and a Byte] have built a talking toaster. More accurately, they retrofitted their existing toaster with some hardware components to make it appear to talk and get angry at its users. While the actual toaster functionality isn’t necessary for the build, it certainly allows the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/23/ted-the-talking-toaster/)
Hard Drive Data Recovery – Why Not DIY?
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/hard-drive-data-recovery-why-not-diy/
Hard drive failures can be tough to bear, particularly for the average person who doesn’t back up. When it comes to data recovery, there’s always those bleating from the sidelines that it’s a job that must be left to the professionals. However, this is Hackaday, not HireSomeoneADay, so [Matt]’s …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/hard-drive-data-recovery-why-not-diy/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/hard-drive-data-recovery-why-not-diy/
Hard drive failures can be tough to bear, particularly for the average person who doesn’t back up. When it comes to data recovery, there’s always those bleating from the sidelines that it’s a job that must be left to the professionals. However, this is Hackaday, not HireSomeoneADay, so [Matt]’s …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/hard-drive-data-recovery-why-not-diy/)
Advancing the State of Cyberdeck Technology
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/advancing-the-state-of-cyberdeck-technology/
It’s somewhat rare to be able to witness the birth and subsequent evolution of a technology, at least on a short enough time scale to appreciate it, but right now we’re lucky enough to see it happening within the burgeoning community of cyberdeck builders. We’ve seen an absolute explosion of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/advancing-the-state-of-cyberdeck-technology/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/advancing-the-state-of-cyberdeck-technology/
It’s somewhat rare to be able to witness the birth and subsequent evolution of a technology, at least on a short enough time scale to appreciate it, but right now we’re lucky enough to see it happening within the burgeoning community of cyberdeck builders. We’ve seen an absolute explosion of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/advancing-the-state-of-cyberdeck-technology/)
AMD Introduces New Ryzen Mini PCs to Challenge Intel
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/amd-introduces-new-ryzen-mini-pcs-to-challenge-intel/
For the majority of hacker and maker projects, the miniature computer of choice these last few years has been the Raspberry Pi. While the availability issues that seem to plague each new iteration of these extremely popular Single Board Computers (SBCs) can be annoying, they’ve otherwise proven to be an …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/amd-introduces-new-ryzen-mini-pcs-to-challenge-intel/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/amd-introduces-new-ryzen-mini-pcs-to-challenge-intel/
For the majority of hacker and maker projects, the miniature computer of choice these last few years has been the Raspberry Pi. While the availability issues that seem to plague each new iteration of these extremely popular Single Board Computers (SBCs) can be annoying, they’ve otherwise proven to be an …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/amd-introduces-new-ryzen-mini-pcs-to-challenge-intel/)
Addressable LED Strings In Your USB
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/addressable-led-strings-in-your-usb/
WS2812Bs, or NeoPixels, or whatever else you call them brought full-color LEDs to maker projects a meter at a time in recent years. Hooked up to a microcontroller, they make creating vibrant, full-color glowables a cinch. They won’t work on their own though, and a some point you want to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/addressable-led-strings-in-your-usb/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/addressable-led-strings-in-your-usb/
WS2812Bs, or NeoPixels, or whatever else you call them brought full-color LEDs to maker projects a meter at a time in recent years. Hooked up to a microcontroller, they make creating vibrant, full-color glowables a cinch. They won’t work on their own though, and a some point you want to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/addressable-led-strings-in-your-usb/)
Possible Fifth Force of Nature Found
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/possible-fifth-force-of-nature-found/
Over the years, humans have come up with four forces that can be used to describe every single interaction in the physical world. They are gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force that causes particle decay, and the strong nuclear force that binds quarks into atoms. Together, these have become the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/possible-fifth-force-of-nature-found/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/possible-fifth-force-of-nature-found/
Over the years, humans have come up with four forces that can be used to describe every single interaction in the physical world. They are gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force that causes particle decay, and the strong nuclear force that binds quarks into atoms. Together, these have become the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/possible-fifth-force-of-nature-found/)
Tiny Tree is a Thermometer for Christmas Fever
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/tiny-tree-is-a-thermometer-for-christmas-fever/
Tired of the usual methods for animating all those RGB LEDS for your holiday display? How about using trendiness in a non-trendy way?
[8BitsAndAByte] caved in to increasing holiday madness and bought the cutest little Christmas tree. A special tree deserves special decorations, so they packed it with NeoPixels that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/tiny-tree-is-a-thermometer-for-christmas-fever/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/tiny-tree-is-a-thermometer-for-christmas-fever/
Tired of the usual methods for animating all those RGB LEDS for your holiday display? How about using trendiness in a non-trendy way?
[8BitsAndAByte] caved in to increasing holiday madness and bought the cutest little Christmas tree. A special tree deserves special decorations, so they packed it with NeoPixels that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/tiny-tree-is-a-thermometer-for-christmas-fever/)
Now Even Your Business Card Can Run Linux
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/now-even-your-business-card-can-run-linux/
It takes a lot of work to get a functional PCB business card that’s thin, cheap, and robust enough to be practical. If you can even blink a few LEDs on the thing and still hand them out with a straight face, you’ve done pretty well for yourself. So you …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/now-even-your-business-card-can-run-linux/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/now-even-your-business-card-can-run-linux/
It takes a lot of work to get a functional PCB business card that’s thin, cheap, and robust enough to be practical. If you can even blink a few LEDs on the thing and still hand them out with a straight face, you’ve done pretty well for yourself. So you …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/now-even-your-business-card-can-run-linux/)
Minimalist Mate Maker Keeps You Caffeinated
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/minimalist-mate-maker-keeps-you-caffeinated/
Americans love their coffee. The Brits adore their tea. In South America, the number one way to get through the day is with yerba mate, a tea made from the yerba plant. It is typically shared in a social setting, with one person preparing the beverage for everyone to enjoy. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/minimalist-mate-maker-keeps-you-caffeinated/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/minimalist-mate-maker-keeps-you-caffeinated/
Americans love their coffee. The Brits adore their tea. In South America, the number one way to get through the day is with yerba mate, a tea made from the yerba plant. It is typically shared in a social setting, with one person preparing the beverage for everyone to enjoy. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/minimalist-mate-maker-keeps-you-caffeinated/)
LuaRadio Gives Insight into SDR
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/luaradio-gives-insight-into-sdr/
In theory, you shouldn’t need any help to develop a software-defined radio (SDR) application. But in real life you really don’t want to roll your own code every time to read the IQ samples, perform various transformations on them, and then drive audio output. At worst, you’ll use some libraries …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/luaradio-gives-insight-into-sdr/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/luaradio-gives-insight-into-sdr/
In theory, you shouldn’t need any help to develop a software-defined radio (SDR) application. But in real life you really don’t want to roll your own code every time to read the IQ samples, perform various transformations on them, and then drive audio output. At worst, you’ll use some libraries …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/luaradio-gives-insight-into-sdr/)
Color Coded Clock Runs On Roman Numerals
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/color-coded-clock-runs-on-roman-numerals/
Roman numerals are, by modern standards, a bit unusual. By virtue of using designations for both 5 and 10, and not scaling well to higher numbers, they’ve fallen out of favor outside of some specific uses. One of those is in time keeping, in which many clocks use the classical …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/color-coded-clock-runs-on-roman-numerals/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/color-coded-clock-runs-on-roman-numerals/
Roman numerals are, by modern standards, a bit unusual. By virtue of using designations for both 5 and 10, and not scaling well to higher numbers, they’ve fallen out of favor outside of some specific uses. One of those is in time keeping, in which many clocks use the classical …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/24/color-coded-clock-runs-on-roman-numerals/)
Laser Welding With A Tattoo Removal Gun
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/25/laser-welding-with-a-tattoo-removal-gun/
Dating as far back as the early 1960’s, researchers were zapping tattoo inks with laser light was an effective way to remove the markings from human skin. At the time it was prohibitively expensive. But the desire to have an undo-button for badge choices is strong, and thus the tattoo …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/25/laser-welding-with-a-tattoo-removal-gun/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/25/laser-welding-with-a-tattoo-removal-gun/
Dating as far back as the early 1960’s, researchers were zapping tattoo inks with laser light was an effective way to remove the markings from human skin. At the time it was prohibitively expensive. But the desire to have an undo-button for badge choices is strong, and thus the tattoo …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/12/25/laser-welding-with-a-tattoo-removal-gun/)